Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
[#99 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #12
Friday, 20 December 2024
Fiction
A Book for Christmas by Selma Lagerlöf
The Princess of Babylon (translated by Peter Graves)
The Rat Trap (translated by Linda Schenck)
In Nazareth (translated by Peter Graves)
Redbreast (translated by Sarah Death)
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 20th: The Bordello Endemic (Conclusion)
The Princess of Babylon (translated by Peter Graves)
The Rat Trap (translated by Linda Schenck)
In Nazareth (translated by Peter Graves)
Redbreast (translated by Sarah Death)
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 20th: The Bordello Endemic (Conclusion)
Videos
Critical Role
A Daggerheart Critmas Story
CR's "Christmas special" is this entirely standalone live one-shot — which means I've actually been able to watch it rather than catch up on years of other stuff first. Hurrah!
Anyway, this was really good fun; even more so than the Session Zero led me to expect (and I enjoyed that too). It comes over like a great '80s Christmas/fantasy movie... or probably more like a modern '80s-set throwback-style Christmas/fantasy movie. Either way, it would've been a pretty fun movie, but with that not existing, it's super entertaining as what it is.
[Watch it (again) if you're a Member on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon. (Free to non-members on YouTube from Monday.)]
A Daggerheart Critmas Story
CR's "Christmas special" is this entirely standalone live one-shot — which means I've actually been able to watch it rather than catch up on years of other stuff first. Hurrah!
Anyway, this was really good fun; even more so than the Session Zero led me to expect (and I enjoyed that too). It comes over like a great '80s Christmas/fantasy movie... or probably more like a modern '80s-set throwback-style Christmas/fantasy movie. Either way, it would've been a pretty fun movie, but with that not existing, it's super entertaining as what it is.
[Watch it (again) if you're a Member on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon. (Free to non-members on YouTube from Monday.)]
Thursday, 19 December 2024
Fiction
A Book for Christmas by Selma Lagerlöf
The Legend of Saint Lucia's Day
(translated by Linda Schenck)
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 19th: The Bordello Endemic
The Legend of Saint Lucia's Day
(translated by Linda Schenck)
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 19th: The Bordello Endemic
Games
Syberia
After just over another hour of play, it's finally finished! Honestly, good riddance. I think if I hadn't chosen to play this, I probably would've completed more games this year — I've had this on the go since October, which might not sound like a huge amount of time (it's two months almost to the day), but the game's only about 10 hours long. If I'd been enjoying it, I probably would've burnt through that in a week. Instead, I've never felt much desire to return to it; I always had to force myself a little bit — including today. It's a month since I last played it, and I've started or toyed with several games since then, and now I just wanted it done. Quite how it's got so many positive reviews is beyond me.
Previously I mused that I'd probably end up wanting to play the sequels anyway (the same thing that happened with NPCs, essentially); but, even though the game ends on a tease for what comes next, the story just isn't interesting enough — especially when coupled with all the other flaws (atrocious dialogue, dull characters, boring gameplay) — to compel me to carry on. Unless I forget myself someday, I'm done with the world of Syberia.
After just over another hour of play, it's finally finished! Honestly, good riddance. I think if I hadn't chosen to play this, I probably would've completed more games this year — I've had this on the go since October, which might not sound like a huge amount of time (it's two months almost to the day), but the game's only about 10 hours long. If I'd been enjoying it, I probably would've burnt through that in a week. Instead, I've never felt much desire to return to it; I always had to force myself a little bit — including today. It's a month since I last played it, and I've started or toyed with several games since then, and now I just wanted it done. Quite how it's got so many positive reviews is beyond me.
Previously I mused that I'd probably end up wanting to play the sequels anyway (the same thing that happened with NPCs, essentially); but, even though the game ends on a tease for what comes next, the story just isn't interesting enough — especially when coupled with all the other flaws (atrocious dialogue, dull characters, boring gameplay) — to compel me to carry on. Unless I forget myself someday, I'm done with the world of Syberia.
Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Films
A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008)
[2nd watch]
The fourth and final (for now?) Wallace & Gromit short didn't blow me away as much as it did when I first saw it, but back then I watched it in isolation whereas now it's coming straight off the first three. It may not quite reach their heights, but it's damn close; in any other series, this would be a comfortable high watermark, but those others are just so good.
[2nd watch]
The fourth and final (for now?) Wallace & Gromit short didn't blow me away as much as it did when I first saw it, but back then I watched it in isolation whereas now it's coming straight off the first three. It may not quite reach their heights, but it's damn close; in any other series, this would be a comfortable high watermark, but those others are just so good.
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 18th: The Cudgeled Constable (Conclusion)
December 18th: The Cudgeled Constable (Conclusion)
Games
Final Fantasy VII
What's this? Starting another game?! Yeah.
Well, here's the thing: I've recently discovered (or remembered, because I did know about some of these methods before) more ways of being able to play computer games (the disadvantage of owning a Mac is it's not always straightforward, though nowadays it's almost always possible; if you're machine's up to running a game, of course (I won't be playing Baldur's Gate 3 anytime soon)). And I've become more interested in gaming again since playing through the Monkey Islands (which was back in 2022 — these are the kind of timescales I operate on!) And older games are so cheap nowadays — I picked up this revered classic for under £4! New games cost an arm and a leg, I know, but diving into the back catalogue of games I've wanted to play for years (in some cases, for decades) has never been more affordable.
So that's why I'm trying multiple things out right now — different platforms; different games. And quite a few of these games I've been acquiring require dozens of hours to complete (FF7 is cited at 36–50 hours of gameplay for the main story, rising to 80+ if you're a completionist. I also recently got Baldur's Gate 1&2 and Neverwinter Nights for free via Amazon, which together are clocked at anything from 120 to 365 hours, depending on play style (and I err towards the latter, which is Completionist)), so it's a more pronounced choice which to devote my time to next (I've got dozens of games awaiting and I want to dive into them all at once!)
So, I'm not committing to 80+ hours of FF7 right now (although I did play for the best part of two hours today, mainly thanks to having to find a save point — it would've been considerably less if the game just let me save whenever I want!), but I'm giving it a go and, well, maybe.
Though, yeah, I do need to finish off that last bit of Syberia.
What's this? Starting another game?! Yeah.
Well, here's the thing: I've recently discovered (or remembered, because I did know about some of these methods before) more ways of being able to play computer games (the disadvantage of owning a Mac is it's not always straightforward, though nowadays it's almost always possible; if you're machine's up to running a game, of course (I won't be playing Baldur's Gate 3 anytime soon)). And I've become more interested in gaming again since playing through the Monkey Islands (which was back in 2022 — these are the kind of timescales I operate on!) And older games are so cheap nowadays — I picked up this revered classic for under £4! New games cost an arm and a leg, I know, but diving into the back catalogue of games I've wanted to play for years (in some cases, for decades) has never been more affordable.
So that's why I'm trying multiple things out right now — different platforms; different games. And quite a few of these games I've been acquiring require dozens of hours to complete (FF7 is cited at 36–50 hours of gameplay for the main story, rising to 80+ if you're a completionist. I also recently got Baldur's Gate 1&2 and Neverwinter Nights for free via Amazon, which together are clocked at anything from 120 to 365 hours, depending on play style (and I err towards the latter, which is Completionist)), so it's a more pronounced choice which to devote my time to next (I've got dozens of games awaiting and I want to dive into them all at once!)
So, I'm not committing to 80+ hours of FF7 right now (although I did play for the best part of two hours today, mainly thanks to having to find a save point — it would've been considerably less if the game just let me save whenever I want!), but I'm giving it a go and, well, maybe.
Though, yeah, I do need to finish off that last bit of Syberia.
Tuesday, 17 December 2024
Films
A Close Shave (1995)
[3rd or so watch]
More Wallace & Gromit, of course. Gotta wait til Saturday for Curse of the Were-Rabbit to be on TV (I could watch my DVD, but why when an HD version is imminent?), so I'll probably go out of order and watch A Matter of Loaf and Death before then. I don't think it really matters.
[3rd or so watch]
More Wallace & Gromit, of course. Gotta wait til Saturday for Curse of the Were-Rabbit to be on TV (I could watch my DVD, but why when an HD version is imminent?), so I'll probably go out of order and watch A Matter of Loaf and Death before then. I don't think it really matters.
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 17th: The Cudgeled Constable
Dr. Watson Takes the Case
This book also includes the latter as a bonus story, after the end of the 'advent calendar' part (I skipped ahead). I assumed it would be something seasonally appropriate, but aside from a one-sentence mention of winter at the start, the tale has nothing to do with Christmas or even winter. Ho hum.
December 17th: The Cudgeled Constable
Dr. Watson Takes the Case
This book also includes the latter as a bonus story, after the end of the 'advent calendar' part (I skipped ahead). I assumed it would be something seasonally appropriate, but aside from a one-sentence mention of winter at the start, the tale has nothing to do with Christmas or even winter. Ho hum.
Monday, 16 December 2024
Films
A Grand Day Out (1989)
[3rd or so watch]
The Wrong Trousers (1993)
[3rd or so watch]
The first two Wallace & Gromit films, which I've seen I-don't-know-how-many times, but not at all recently (never in this blog's lifetime, and it's been running for almost 17 years!); which also probably means I haven't seen them anything like as often as I think I have. It's a moot point anyway, because however many times I've seen them, their brilliance is seared into my brain.
[3rd or so watch]
The Wrong Trousers (1993)
[3rd or so watch]
The first two Wallace & Gromit films, which I've seen I-don't-know-how-many times, but not at all recently (never in this blog's lifetime, and it's been running for almost 17 years!); which also probably means I haven't seen them anything like as often as I think I have. It's a moot point anyway, because however many times I've seen them, their brilliance is seared into my brain.
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 16th: The Mysterious Violinist (Conclusion)
December 16th: The Mysterious Violinist (Conclusion)
Sunday, 15 December 2024
Videos
Talks Machina
#117 'Reflections'
As I mentioned last time, this episode isn't available via Internet Archive, but you can find torrents for Brian W Foster-related content here.
#117 'Reflections'
As I mentioned last time, this episode isn't available via Internet Archive, but you can find torrents for Brian W Foster-related content here.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
A grand total of seven new titles this week, but three of them were upgrades so don't really show below.
Number of titles in collection: 3,434 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 993 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,443 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 414 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,286 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,324 [up 7]
Number of additional cuts: 423 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,195 [no change]
You might think next week would be quiet, what with it being the final update before Christmas, but nope, I'm expecting plenty of stuff — including yet more multi-film box sets. See you next week for all that, faithful reader.
A grand total of seven new titles this week, but three of them were upgrades so don't really show below.
Number of titles in collection: 3,434 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 993 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,443 [up 5]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 414 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,286 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,324 [up 7]
Number of additional cuts: 423 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,195 [no change]
You might think next week would be quiet, what with it being the final update before Christmas, but nope, I'm expecting plenty of stuff — including yet more multi-film box sets. See you next week for all that, faithful reader.
Saturday, 14 December 2024
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 14th: The Auction of the Prehistoric Beast (Conclusion)
December 14th: The Auction of the Prehistoric Beast (Conclusion)
Friday, 13 December 2024
Fiction
A Book for Christmas by Selma Lagerlöf
A Book for Christmas: A Memory from Childhood
(translated by Sarah Death)
I can't remember how I discovered this book, but it looked like a beautifully-presented little volume of eight short Swedish Christmas stories, and what better time for nice traditional stories than Christmas?
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 13th: The Auction of the Prehistoric Beast
A Book for Christmas: A Memory from Childhood
(translated by Sarah Death)
I can't remember how I discovered this book, but it looked like a beautifully-presented little volume of eight short Swedish Christmas stories, and what better time for nice traditional stories than Christmas?
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 13th: The Auction of the Prehistoric Beast
Videos
Critical Role
2x68 Reflections [2nd half]
With this episode, I've watched just under 353 hours of Critical Role Campaign 2 content, including both the actual campaign and Talks Machina. There are 351½ hours to go — meaning that, time wise, this is halfway.* Or, to put it another way: I'm only halfway through!?
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
* Halfway in episode count terms is still a few episodes away. During the pandemic, Talks took longer to return to air than the main show, and then it was only on fortnightly, so there are far fewer episodes in the second half of the campaign (in the first half, 100% of CR episodes have an accompanying Talks; in the second it's just 60%), thus skewing the combined running time toward the first half.
2x68 Reflections [2nd half]
With this episode, I've watched just under 353 hours of Critical Role Campaign 2 content, including both the actual campaign and Talks Machina. There are 351½ hours to go — meaning that, time wise, this is halfway.* Or, to put it another way: I'm only halfway through!?
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
* Halfway in episode count terms is still a few episodes away. During the pandemic, Talks took longer to return to air than the main show, and then it was only on fortnightly, so there are far fewer episodes in the second half of the campaign (in the first half, 100% of CR episodes have an accompanying Talks; in the second it's just 60%), thus skewing the combined running time toward the first half.
Thursday, 12 December 2024
Films
Goblin Slayer: Goblin's Crown (2020)
Back into the world of Goblin Slayer (has it really been over seven weeks since I finished the series?!) This movie was released a couple of years after season one; I believe season two, although released three years later, picks up right after it.
Back into the world of Goblin Slayer (has it really been over seven weeks since I finished the series?!) This movie was released a couple of years after season one; I believe season two, although released three years later, picks up right after it.
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 12th: The Adventure of the Dreadful Author (Conclusion)
December 12th: The Adventure of the Dreadful Author (Conclusion)
Videos
Critical Role
2x68 Reflections [1st half]
"What do you mean, 'Caleb killed his whole family?'"
"You know, it's a figure of speech where I'm from."
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x68 Reflections [1st half]
"What do you mean, 'Caleb killed his whole family?'"
"You know, it's a figure of speech where I'm from."
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Fiction
NPCs by Drew Hayes
Chapters 23–25
Epilogue [the end]
So, despite what I said the other day, I'm now tempted to continue with the next book in this series. My opinion on the quality of the prose hasn't changed, and that's the main thing putting me off; but the last act of this one finally engaged with some of the ideas the setup had promised, if only for a little bit. So while the prose bugs me, the story and characters have hooked me just enough that I want to find out what happens next.
That said, I can kinda tell this is setting itself up to be serialised across multiple volumes (that's literally what this first book does: finally gets somewhere, then ends on a cliffhanger), and I know there's already five books with the story not yet wrapped up — should I be letting myself in for all that?
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 11th: The Adventure of the Dreadful Author
Pot, kettle...
Chapters 23–25
Epilogue [the end]
So, despite what I said the other day, I'm now tempted to continue with the next book in this series. My opinion on the quality of the prose hasn't changed, and that's the main thing putting me off; but the last act of this one finally engaged with some of the ideas the setup had promised, if only for a little bit. So while the prose bugs me, the story and characters have hooked me just enough that I want to find out what happens next.
That said, I can kinda tell this is setting itself up to be serialised across multiple volumes (that's literally what this first book does: finally gets somewhere, then ends on a cliffhanger), and I know there's already five books with the story not yet wrapped up — should I be letting myself in for all that?
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 11th: The Adventure of the Dreadful Author
Pot, kettle...
Tuesday, 10 December 2024
Fiction
NPCs by Drew Hayes
Chapters 21–22
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 10th: The Ostentatious Art Collector (Conclusion)
Chapters 21–22
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 10th: The Ostentatious Art Collector (Conclusion)
Monday, 9 December 2024
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 9th: The Ostentatious Art Collector
December 9th: The Ostentatious Art Collector
Sunday, 8 December 2024
Films
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
[#97 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #11
[#97 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #11
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 8th: The Adventure of the Gentle Axe Murderer (Conclusion)
December 8th: The Adventure of the Gentle Axe Murderer (Conclusion)
this week on 100Films.co.uk
We're more than a week into December now, but last week ended on the 1st and I wasn't timely with posting my November monthly review, so the past 'week' on 100Films.co.uk kicks off with that...
And then, as always, there were the "failures"...
And what about regular reviews? Um, nope. Maybe next Sunday.
And then, as always, there were the "failures"...
And what about regular reviews? Um, nope. Maybe next Sunday.
Saturday, 7 December 2024
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 7th: The Adventure of the Gentle Axe Murderer
December 7th: The Adventure of the Gentle Axe Murderer
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
The Christmastime post changes are in full effect, with some stuff taking longer than expected to arrive, and others... well, not. So, only a small handful of titles this week, with several more still dashing through the post. I think it's going to be a smaller month overall, but still probably with new titles every week. (There probably shouldn't be new stuff every week, eh?)
Number of titles in collection: 3,432 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 994 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,438 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 412 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,279 [up 8]
Number of films: 4,317 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 422 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,195 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
The Christmastime post changes are in full effect, with some stuff taking longer than expected to arrive, and others... well, not. So, only a small handful of titles this week, with several more still dashing through the post. I think it's going to be a smaller month overall, but still probably with new titles every week. (There probably shouldn't be new stuff every week, eh?)
Number of titles in collection: 3,432 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 994 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,438 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 412 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,279 [up 8]
Number of films: 4,317 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 422 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,195 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 6 December 2024
Films
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
[#95 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #10
[#95 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #10
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 6th: The Adventure of the Assaulted Cabbie (Conclusion)
December 6th: The Adventure of the Assaulted Cabbie (Conclusion)
Thursday, 5 December 2024
Fiction
NPCs by Drew Hayes
Chapters 15–20
I'm 80% through this now, and I think I have to admit: it isn't very good. The inciting concept is neat, but has barely been a factor for most of the novel — this could be any story of novice adventurers in a high fantasy / RPG world; the fact they used to be NPCs is immaterial. That said, this has begun to change in the last couple of chapters, so maybe the final act can pull something out of the bag.
Similarly, while it's clearly meant to be a parody (not an outright Naked Gun-style piss-take, but certainly looking at RPGs with a raised eyebrow and degree of amused cynicism), I've found it mostly lacking in humour. That's not just a taste issue — I'm not saying I don't think it's funny, I'm saying it's not even trying to be as often as it perhaps should. The prose is largely adequate, but also clunky; unnecessarily verbose, with an abundance of wholly redundant words, phrases, and even whole sentences; relatedly, it's often irritatingly repetitive in minor ways (in a careless fashion, not a stylistic one). It's self-published, and that doesn't surprise me. Indeed, I was surprised when I saw there are two credited editors. And if the quality of the writing didn't give it away, the amateurish typesetting would. It feels like that shouldn't be a criticism, and I guess if you were reading a high-quality work it would be easier to let slide, but it's surprisingly aggravating.
I'll stick with it to the end, because it's not outright terrible and I've come this far so want resolution from the plot — though I hope the fact there are multiple sequels doesn't mean I'm denied that, because I don't intend to read more.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 5th: The Adventure of the Assaulted Cabbie
Chapters 15–20
I'm 80% through this now, and I think I have to admit: it isn't very good. The inciting concept is neat, but has barely been a factor for most of the novel — this could be any story of novice adventurers in a high fantasy / RPG world; the fact they used to be NPCs is immaterial. That said, this has begun to change in the last couple of chapters, so maybe the final act can pull something out of the bag.
Similarly, while it's clearly meant to be a parody (not an outright Naked Gun-style piss-take, but certainly looking at RPGs with a raised eyebrow and degree of amused cynicism), I've found it mostly lacking in humour. That's not just a taste issue — I'm not saying I don't think it's funny, I'm saying it's not even trying to be as often as it perhaps should. The prose is largely adequate, but also clunky; unnecessarily verbose, with an abundance of wholly redundant words, phrases, and even whole sentences; relatedly, it's often irritatingly repetitive in minor ways (in a careless fashion, not a stylistic one). It's self-published, and that doesn't surprise me. Indeed, I was surprised when I saw there are two credited editors. And if the quality of the writing didn't give it away, the amateurish typesetting would. It feels like that shouldn't be a criticism, and I guess if you were reading a high-quality work it would be easier to let slide, but it's surprisingly aggravating.
I'll stick with it to the end, because it's not outright terrible and I've come this far so want resolution from the plot — though I hope the fact there are multiple sequels doesn't mean I'm denied that, because I don't intend to read more.
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 5th: The Adventure of the Assaulted Cabbie
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
December 3rd: The Mystery of the Businessman's Body
December 4th: The Mystery of the Businessman's Body (Conclusion)
I'm not deliberately leaving these for every other day, because that feels against the point of a calendar, but it's just how my time for reading has panned out so far. Equally, I don't think I want to be puzzling over each of these mysteries for a whole 24 hours. So, going forward, I think I'm going to aim to read each half either side of midnight. Ok, arguably that's practically the same as reading them every other day, but at least it involves some semblance of the original intent.
December 3rd: The Mystery of the Businessman's Body
December 4th: The Mystery of the Businessman's Body (Conclusion)
I'm not deliberately leaving these for every other day, because that feels against the point of a calendar, but it's just how my time for reading has panned out so far. Equally, I don't think I want to be puzzling over each of these mysteries for a whole 24 hours. So, going forward, I think I'm going to aim to read each half either side of midnight. Ok, arguably that's practically the same as reading them every other day, but at least it involves some semblance of the original intent.
Tuesday, 3 December 2024
Films
The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008)
Finally watched the Blu-ray I bought 13½ years ago, to see if I like it enough to upgrade to the Arrow 4K that’s out next week, which I quite possibly won’t watch for another 13½+ years. But I’m still gonna buy it, because this was awesome.
Finally watched the Blu-ray I bought 13½ years ago, to see if I like it enough to upgrade to the Arrow 4K that’s out next week, which I quite possibly won’t watch for another 13½+ years. But I’m still gonna buy it, because this was awesome.
Monday, 2 December 2024
Fiction
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas by Derrick Belanger
How to Read This Book
December 1st: The Adventure of the Wiry Eel
December 2nd: The Adventure of the Wiry Eel (Conclusion)
I'm trying to not have too many books on the go at once, honest, but this is a timely one. Aside from what's obvious from the title (i.e. that it's set around Christmas), it's also designed to be read as an 'advent calendar': each of the stories is split in two, with a mystery posed one day and a conclusion offered on the next. Neat.
How to Read This Book
December 1st: The Adventure of the Wiry Eel
December 2nd: The Adventure of the Wiry Eel (Conclusion)
I'm trying to not have too many books on the go at once, honest, but this is a timely one. Aside from what's obvious from the title (i.e. that it's set around Christmas), it's also designed to be read as an 'advent calendar': each of the stories is split in two, with a mystery posed one day and a conclusion offered on the next. Neat.
Articles
Critical Role Cast Teases Its Future and a Potential ‘Passing of the Torch’
by Dana Reboe (from Rolling Stone)
It feels like there's a CR profile in a major magazine every other week at the moment. I guess it's all because their tenth anniversary is rapdily approaching, and they've been doing (and continue to do) so much stuff. Still, they're almost always worth a read (if you're a fan, anyway) because there's always a few more titbits about what's to come.
by Dana Reboe (from Rolling Stone)
It feels like there's a CR profile in a major magazine every other week at the moment. I guess it's all because their tenth anniversary is rapdily approaching, and they've been doing (and continue to do) so much stuff. Still, they're almost always worth a read (if you're a fan, anyway) because there's always a few more titbits about what's to come.
Sunday, 1 December 2024
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x79 Redemption Week 1: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
7x79 Redemption Week 1: Thursday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Saturday, 30 November 2024
TV
Friends
4x12 The One with the Embryos [5th or so watch]
4x13 The One with Rachel's Crush [5th or so watch]
4x14 The One with Joey's Dirty Day [5th or so watch]
4x15 The One with All the Rugby [5th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x78 Redemption Week 1: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
4x12 The One with the Embryos [5th or so watch]
4x13 The One with Rachel's Crush [5th or so watch]
4x14 The One with Joey's Dirty Day [5th or so watch]
4x15 The One with All the Rugby [5th or so watch]
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x78 Redemption Week 1: Wednesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Only a few titles this week — well, six is still a strong number for just one week, really, but by my stsnsdards... Either way, several of those are box sets, so the number of discs and films still jump up considerably. One is also technically an upgrade from DVD, so I ought to ditch the old disc, but it includes a commentary track not on the new edition. I'll probably never actually listen to it... but I might...
Number of titles in collection: 3,429 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 994 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,435 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 409 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,271 [up 18]
Number of films: 4,314 [up 19]
Number of additional cuts: 420 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [up 6]
Number of short films: 1,195 [up 10]
Also this week, the final regular monthly running time update of the year.
Total running time of collection (approx.):
581 days, 14 hours, and 57 minutes.
(Up 4 days, 10 hours, and 17 minutes from last month.)
I say "final running time update of the year", but next month will have a monthly running time update too, of course, it's just that it will also contain the increases for the whole of 2024. It's felt like a big year, with a constant stream of additions, but has it been notably bigger than usual? We'll see in a month's time...
Before that, there's a couple of 'regular' weeks to go. See you then, faithful reader.
Only a few titles this week — well, six is still a strong number for just one week, really, but by my stsnsdards... Either way, several of those are box sets, so the number of discs and films still jump up considerably. One is also technically an upgrade from DVD, so I ought to ditch the old disc, but it includes a commentary track not on the new edition. I'll probably never actually listen to it... but I might...
Number of titles in collection: 3,429 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 994 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,435 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 409 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,271 [up 18]
Number of films: 4,314 [up 19]
Number of additional cuts: 420 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,856 [up 6]
Number of short films: 1,195 [up 10]
Also this week, the final regular monthly running time update of the year.
Total running time of collection (approx.):
581 days, 14 hours, and 57 minutes.
(Up 4 days, 10 hours, and 17 minutes from last month.)
I say "final running time update of the year", but next month will have a monthly running time update too, of course, it's just that it will also contain the increases for the whole of 2024. It's felt like a big year, with a constant stream of additions, but has it been notably bigger than usual? We'll see in a month's time...
Before that, there's a couple of 'regular' weeks to go. See you then, faithful reader.
Friday, 29 November 2024
Thursday, 28 November 2024
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x76 Redemption Week 1: Monday
7x77 Redemption Week 1: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
7x76 Redemption Week 1: Monday
7x77 Redemption Week 1: Tuesday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Videos
Talks Machina
#116 'Beyond the Eyes of Angels'
For some reason, episodes 116 and 117 don't seem to be available via the Internet Archive as normal, which is a shame. Fortunately, I found torrents for piles of Brian W Foster-related content here, so I've used that to fill the gaps.
#116 'Beyond the Eyes of Angels'
For some reason, episodes 116 and 117 don't seem to be available via the Internet Archive as normal, which is a shame. Fortunately, I found torrents for piles of Brian W Foster-related content here, so I've used that to fill the gaps.
Wednesday, 27 November 2024
Videos
Critical Role
2x67 Beyond the Eyes of Angels [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x67 Beyond the Eyes of Angels [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Tuesday, 26 November 2024
Videos
Critical Role
2x67 Beyond the Eyes of Angels [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x67 Beyond the Eyes of Angels [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Monday, 25 November 2024
Sunday, 24 November 2024
Games
007: Everything or Nothing
Continuing my Amazon Luna experience, I hooked it up to my Mac via Bluetooth and used it as any old wireless controller to have another crack at this classic James Bond game. When I tried it out a month ago, I struggled with keyboard-only controls; as hoped, using a controller made the world of difference. As discussed yesterday, I'm still finding the analogue sticks a little oversensitive (especially the one assigned to controlling the camera), but it was a huge improvement. Now I might actually try to play this whole game, something I've wanted to do for, oh, only twenty years.
Continuing my Amazon Luna experience, I hooked it up to my Mac via Bluetooth and used it as any old wireless controller to have another crack at this classic James Bond game. When I tried it out a month ago, I struggled with keyboard-only controls; as hoped, using a controller made the world of difference. As discussed yesterday, I'm still finding the analogue sticks a little oversensitive (especially the one assigned to controlling the camera), but it was a huge improvement. Now I might actually try to play this whole game, something I've wanted to do for, oh, only twenty years.
Saturday, 23 November 2024
Games
A Plague Tale: Innocence
So, I just got an Amazon Luna controller in their Black Friday sale, and this game is currently free to Prime members and is compatible with Luna, so I thought I'd give the pair a go to test them both out. The controller is good, though as I haven't played with one for a very, very long time, I find it hard to be fair — I mean, are the analogue sticks a little oversensitive, or is it just me not being used to using them?
As for the game, I'm still in the early tutorial-ish stages, though towards the end of my session I was moving out of them and kept dying, so, er, don't know if that bodes well. And as for cloud gaming, it seemed to be responsive enough to controls, though the visual quality was a bit blurry and muddy at times. Considering regular video streaming is mostly fine for me, that's a little disappointing; equally, it might've been a quirk of the service during bad weather on a Saturday afternoon. We'll see how it goes over time.
So, I just got an Amazon Luna controller in their Black Friday sale, and this game is currently free to Prime members and is compatible with Luna, so I thought I'd give the pair a go to test them both out. The controller is good, though as I haven't played with one for a very, very long time, I find it hard to be fair — I mean, are the analogue sticks a little oversensitive, or is it just me not being used to using them?
As for the game, I'm still in the early tutorial-ish stages, though towards the end of my session I was moving out of them and kept dying, so, er, don't know if that bodes well. And as for cloud gaming, it seemed to be responsive enough to controls, though the visual quality was a bit blurry and muddy at times. Considering regular video streaming is mostly fine for me, that's a little disappointing; equally, it might've been a quirk of the service during bad weather on a Saturday afternoon. We'll see how it goes over time.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Well, this week doesn't quite live up to last week's forecast that it could be a "stonker" (a large box set is still in the post, which means next week will have a far lower number of titles but a higher number of films and discs), but it's still a larger-than-average week — again. There's just so much interesting stuff coming out from the boutique labels nowadays — this isn't even everything I'd like to buy; I'm trying to be at least a little restrained. It's madness, really.
Number of titles in collection: 3,423 [up 11]
Of which DVDs: 994 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,429 [up 11]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 407 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,253 [up 16]
Number of films: 4,295 [up 13]
Number of additional cuts: 418 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 9,850 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,185 [up 4]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Well, this week doesn't quite live up to last week's forecast that it could be a "stonker" (a large box set is still in the post, which means next week will have a far lower number of titles but a higher number of films and discs), but it's still a larger-than-average week — again. There's just so much interesting stuff coming out from the boutique labels nowadays — this isn't even everything I'd like to buy; I'm trying to be at least a little restrained. It's madness, really.
Number of titles in collection: 3,423 [up 11]
Of which DVDs: 994 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,429 [up 11]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 407 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,253 [up 16]
Number of films: 4,295 [up 13]
Number of additional cuts: 418 [up 3]
Number of TV episodes: 9,850 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,185 [up 4]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Comics
X-Men — Magik: Storm & Illyana by Chris Claremont, Sal Buscema & Tom Palmer
#4 Darkchild [the end]
Enjoyed this overall, but it's very wordy — a lot of "tell don't show". Unusual for such a visual medium as comics; or maybe just how it was done back then (it's 40 years old now, after all).
#4 Darkchild [the end]
Enjoyed this overall, but it's very wordy — a lot of "tell don't show". Unusual for such a visual medium as comics; or maybe just how it was done back then (it's 40 years old now, after all).
Tuesday, 19 November 2024
Videos
Critical Role
A Daggerheart Critmas Story: Session Zero
I was aware this Session Zero had happened, and thought I'd probably watch it at some point because I expect I'll watch the Christmas special at some point too, but then I happened to see another video with a clip of this, which suggested it featured a lot of Omar, Matt and Marisha's corgi, and, well, I had to see that ASAP. The rest of it was fun as ever — I like feeling like we're just hanging out with these guys — but I appreciated the Omar cam, too.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
A Daggerheart Critmas Story: Session Zero
I was aware this Session Zero had happened, and thought I'd probably watch it at some point because I expect I'll watch the Christmas special at some point too, but then I happened to see another video with a clip of this, which suggested it featured a lot of Omar, Matt and Marisha's corgi, and, well, I had to see that ASAP. The rest of it was fun as ever — I like feeling like we're just hanging out with these guys — but I appreciated the Omar cam, too.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Monday, 18 November 2024
Games
Syberia
Another hour-and-a-half. Definitely in the final stretch, though it seems there's still a little bit to go. I kinda just want to get to the end now — the puzzles are linear and repetitive (sometimes dressed up differently, but almost all functioning in the same way), and the story is no great shakes. (Knowing me, I'll still end up feeling compelled to play the sequels...)
Another hour-and-a-half. Definitely in the final stretch, though it seems there's still a little bit to go. I kinda just want to get to the end now — the puzzles are linear and repetitive (sometimes dressed up differently, but almost all functioning in the same way), and the story is no great shakes. (Knowing me, I'll still end up feeling compelled to play the sequels...)
Sunday, 17 November 2024
Films
Duel to the Death (1983)
[#89 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
The Seventh Victim (1943)
[#88 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
[#89 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
The Seventh Victim (1943)
[#88 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
Saturday, 16 November 2024
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
It's back to being a busy week this week, as a bunch of stuff I thought would turn up last time finally arrives, plus a few new things too. It makes for a larger-than-average week... although it could've been even bigger, because what didn't arrive were next week's new releases. Well, it spreads the fun out some more, at least.
Number of titles in collection: 3,412 [up 12]
Of which DVDs: 994 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,418 [up 13]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 404 [up 4]
Number of discs in collection: 8,237 [up 22]
Number of films: 4,282 [up 14]
Number of additional cuts: 415 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,850 [up 13]
Number of short films: 1,181 [up 3]
Looking at what might arrive next week, there's enough stuff definitely turning up to almost rival this week... but if the week-after-next's releases turn up early, it's really going to be another stonker for some categories. We'll see about that next week, faithful reader.
It's back to being a busy week this week, as a bunch of stuff I thought would turn up last time finally arrives, plus a few new things too. It makes for a larger-than-average week... although it could've been even bigger, because what didn't arrive were next week's new releases. Well, it spreads the fun out some more, at least.
Number of titles in collection: 3,412 [up 12]
Of which DVDs: 994 [down 1]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,418 [up 13]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 404 [up 4]
Number of discs in collection: 8,237 [up 22]
Number of films: 4,282 [up 14]
Number of additional cuts: 415 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,850 [up 13]
Number of short films: 1,181 [up 3]
Looking at what might arrive next week, there's enough stuff definitely turning up to almost rival this week... but if the week-after-next's releases turn up early, it's really going to be another stonker for some categories. We'll see about that next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 15 November 2024
TV
Newsnight
15/11/24 edition
I don't regularly watch Newsnight, but I happened to see this had an item on the so-called 'Xodus' — i.e. people finally abandoning the site everyone knows as Twitter, mainly for Bluesky — and was interested to see how it would be covered.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
15/11/24 edition
I don't regularly watch Newsnight, but I happened to see this had an item on the so-called 'Xodus' — i.e. people finally abandoning the site everyone knows as Twitter, mainly for Bluesky — and was interested to see how it would be covered.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Thursday, 14 November 2024
Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Sunday, 10 November 2024
Videos
Critical Role
2x66 Beneath Bazzoxan [1st half]
"Did we just defeat a whole village in, like, 30 seconds? But it took us days to leave a tree?" Ah, D&D.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x66 Beneath Bazzoxan [1st half]
"Did we just defeat a whole village in, like, 30 seconds? But it took us days to leave a tree?" Ah, D&D.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
this week on 100Films.co.uk
Hurrah — 1 new review was published to 100Films.co.uk this week...
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
More next Sunday.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
If you came to Rosemary’s Baby without any kind of context about its place in film history, you might well conclude it had been made in the last few years... in terms of its plot, its themes, its characters and their relationships, and what they might be signifying, that all feels quite ‘of the moment’. Maybe it did in the ’60s too. Maybe it has in every time period since — maybe that’s why the film has endured so well for over 50 years.Read more here.
More next Sunday.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
I thought it was going to be another busy one this week, but, in the end, a lot of stuff was slow to dispatch or (in one case) got held up at customs, so I guess that might be deferred to next week (or even spread across the next couple of weeks, who knows).
Number of titles in collection: 3,400 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 995 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,405 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 400 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,215 [up 4]
Number of films: 4,268 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 414 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,837 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,178 [up 3]
See you next week, faithful reader.
I thought it was going to be another busy one this week, but, in the end, a lot of stuff was slow to dispatch or (in one case) got held up at customs, so I guess that might be deferred to next week (or even spread across the next couple of weeks, who knows).
Number of titles in collection: 3,400 [up 3]
Of which DVDs: 995 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,405 [up 3]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 400 [up 3]
Number of discs in collection: 8,215 [up 4]
Number of films: 4,268 [up 3]
Number of additional cuts: 414 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,837 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,178 [up 3]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Saturday, 9 November 2024
Friday, 8 November 2024
TV
The Graham Norton Show
32x07 (8/11/2024 edition)
I didn't set out to watch this, and yet somehow it was on, and I didn't turn it off. Hey-ho.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Have I Got News for You
68x06 (8/11/2024 edition)
This I did choose to watch. Guest hosted by the regular host of the US version of the show, who did a better job than what (little) I've seen of the US version. I guess he's good at his job, but the writers and editors of the US version, maybe not so much...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
32x07 (8/11/2024 edition)
I didn't set out to watch this, and yet somehow it was on, and I didn't turn it off. Hey-ho.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Have I Got News for You
68x06 (8/11/2024 edition)
This I did choose to watch. Guest hosted by the regular host of the US version of the show, who did a better job than what (little) I've seen of the US version. I guess he's good at his job, but the writers and editors of the US version, maybe not so much...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Thursday, 7 November 2024
Wednesday, 6 November 2024
Games
Syberia
Another hour. The second main location is kinda more interesting, with more characters to meaningfully interact with. It still showcases numerous game design flaws (screens with absolutely no purpose other than to lengthen your treks back and forth; conversations that don't flow even close to naturally across topics), but at least it's slowly piquing my interest with its central mystery.
Another hour. The second main location is kinda more interesting, with more characters to meaningfully interact with. It still showcases numerous game design flaws (screens with absolutely no purpose other than to lengthen your treks back and forth; conversations that don't flow even close to naturally across topics), but at least it's slowly piquing my interest with its central mystery.
Tuesday, 5 November 2024
Comics
X-Men — Magik: Storm & Illyana by Chris Claremont & Brent Anderson
Introduction by C.B. Cebulski
The Uncanny X-Men #160 Chutes and Ladders
Sure, I'm quite behind on 2000 AD and still need to catch up with current X-Men, and I started Spawn but haven't read it for over six months, but why not start something else? (It's only a four-issue miniseries, with this issue of Uncanny as prologue, so it shouldn't take up too much time. Says the guy who's recently read one issue or less per week...)
Introduction by C.B. Cebulski
The Uncanny X-Men #160 Chutes and Ladders
Sure, I'm quite behind on 2000 AD and still need to catch up with current X-Men, and I started Spawn but haven't read it for over six months, but why not start something else? (It's only a four-issue miniseries, with this issue of Uncanny as prologue, so it shouldn't take up too much time. Says the guy who's recently read one issue or less per week...)
Monday, 4 November 2024
Games
The Booze of Monkey Island
What's this? Another game I'm starting instead of continuing Syberia. Ah, but I also finished this one, because it's only short (it took me three hours, and that was with exploring most of the dialogue trees, which are extensive). And you can't complain about it's length, because it's free. And also unofficial — it's a fan game. But it's really good — the graphics are lovely (like a modern HD version of Curse) and, even more importantly, the humour is bang on. There are a few bugs and translation issues, but nothing that hinders gameplay. If you're a fan of Monkey Island, it's definitely worth playing... and soon, before the Disney lawyers learn about it and nuke it.
What's this? Another game I'm starting instead of continuing Syberia. Ah, but I also finished this one, because it's only short (it took me three hours, and that was with exploring most of the dialogue trees, which are extensive). And you can't complain about it's length, because it's free. And also unofficial — it's a fan game. But it's really good — the graphics are lovely (like a modern HD version of Curse) and, even more importantly, the humour is bang on. There are a few bugs and translation issues, but nothing that hinders gameplay. If you're a fan of Monkey Island, it's definitely worth playing... and soon, before the Disney lawyers learn about it and nuke it.
Sunday, 3 November 2024
Comics
Absolute Batman #1 by Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta
I wasn’t sure I was going to bother with this new Elseworlds variant of Batman. On one hand, it’s written by Scott Snyder, whose Batman work I greatly enjoyed back when I was regularly buying comics the last time in 2011–14. On the other, it sounded like it perhaps deviated too far from what makes Batman Batman; plus, it’s not as if I don’t buy enough other comics that I’m not getting round to reading (including two regular Batman titles). But then it became “the comic everyone was talking about” when it released, and that talk all seemed to be positive, so I bought issue one — and only just got round to reading it, because hey, that's what I'm like.
Anyway, it is indeed absolutely fantastic and I can't wait for more. Thanks, general chatter, for persuading me to read it.
I wasn’t sure I was going to bother with this new Elseworlds variant of Batman. On one hand, it’s written by Scott Snyder, whose Batman work I greatly enjoyed back when I was regularly buying comics the last time in 2011–14. On the other, it sounded like it perhaps deviated too far from what makes Batman Batman; plus, it’s not as if I don’t buy enough other comics that I’m not getting round to reading (including two regular Batman titles). But then it became “the comic everyone was talking about” when it released, and that talk all seemed to be positive, so I bought issue one — and only just got round to reading it, because hey, that's what I'm like.
Anyway, it is indeed absolutely fantastic and I can't wait for more. Thanks, general chatter, for persuading me to read it.
this week on 100Films.co.uk
A new month began just before the weekend (I'm sure you noticed), so it was time for 100Films.co.uk to look back at October...
And that includes the October "failures", of course...
More, hopefully, next Sunday.
And that includes the October "failures", of course...
More, hopefully, next Sunday.
Saturday, 2 November 2024
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
So, after last week turned out to be considerably smaller than expected, it all came pouring in this week instead — just in time for the monthly running time update.
Indeed, there was even more than I'd expected, thanks to an early arrival for Eureka's Louis Feuillade box set (which should replace three DVDs, but they have extras I'm not yet ready to ditch) and Indicator throwing up a sale, from which I ordered two big box sets (and a couple of regular titles), which also managed to arrive before week's end.
Altogether, it makes for a bunch of very sizeable increases — including a frankly ludicrous 48 new feature films! I feel like that must be some kind of record, but I don't have the energy to check.
Number of titles in collection: 3,397 [up 10]
Of which DVDs: 995 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,402 [up 10]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 397 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,211 [up 34]
Number of films: 4,265 [up 48]
Number of additional cuts: 414 [up 10]
Number of TV episodes: 9,837 [up 40]
Number of short films: 1,175 [up 4]
I always have a dilemma with film serials: are they one film; or a bunch of TV episodes; or a bunch of films? Because they're not really one film; but counting each episode as a film is a bit daft; but they're not really TV episodes either. I tend to end up counting them there, though, because it seems like the fairest option. That's what I've done with this new Feuillade set, anyway — no 'actual' TV was added to the collection this month.
No debate about where to count the running time, at least: it all goes into the same massive pile...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
577 days, 4 hours, and 40 minutes.
(Up 6 days, 8 hours, and 11 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
So, after last week turned out to be considerably smaller than expected, it all came pouring in this week instead — just in time for the monthly running time update.
Indeed, there was even more than I'd expected, thanks to an early arrival for Eureka's Louis Feuillade box set (which should replace three DVDs, but they have extras I'm not yet ready to ditch) and Indicator throwing up a sale, from which I ordered two big box sets (and a couple of regular titles), which also managed to arrive before week's end.
Altogether, it makes for a bunch of very sizeable increases — including a frankly ludicrous 48 new feature films! I feel like that must be some kind of record, but I don't have the energy to check.
Number of titles in collection: 3,397 [up 10]
Of which DVDs: 995 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,402 [up 10]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 397 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,211 [up 34]
Number of films: 4,265 [up 48]
Number of additional cuts: 414 [up 10]
Number of TV episodes: 9,837 [up 40]
Number of short films: 1,175 [up 4]
I always have a dilemma with film serials: are they one film; or a bunch of TV episodes; or a bunch of films? Because they're not really one film; but counting each episode as a film is a bit daft; but they're not really TV episodes either. I tend to end up counting them there, though, because it seems like the fairest option. That's what I've done with this new Feuillade set, anyway — no 'actual' TV was added to the collection this month.
No debate about where to count the running time, at least: it all goes into the same massive pile...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
577 days, 4 hours, and 40 minutes.
(Up 6 days, 8 hours, and 11 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 1 November 2024
Music
The Guest II: Original Soundtrack
I vaguely remember them releasing this a couple of years ago. It's a soundtrack album for a film that doesn't exist; a kind of concept album in lieu of any sequel to The Guest actually getting made. I never got round to listening to it before because, you know, it's not actually a sequel to The Guest; but having rewatched The Guest yesterday and been reminded of how awesome and essential the soundtrack is, I thought I'd finally stick this on.
Warriors
by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Eisa Davis
I feel like I should have something significant to say about this — as someone who loves both The Warriors and Hamilton — but, well, not for now. Maybe after I listen to it a few more times. What I will say is: at the start I wasn't convinced — the more of Miranda's work you listen to, it begins to feel like he only has so many ideas and tricks to deploy — but I did get into it the more it went on and liked lots of it.
I vaguely remember them releasing this a couple of years ago. It's a soundtrack album for a film that doesn't exist; a kind of concept album in lieu of any sequel to The Guest actually getting made. I never got round to listening to it before because, you know, it's not actually a sequel to The Guest; but having rewatched The Guest yesterday and been reminded of how awesome and essential the soundtrack is, I thought I'd finally stick this on.
Warriors
by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Eisa Davis
I feel like I should have something significant to say about this — as someone who loves both The Warriors and Hamilton — but, well, not for now. Maybe after I listen to it a few more times. What I will say is: at the start I wasn't convinced — the more of Miranda's work you listen to, it begins to feel like he only has so many ideas and tricks to deploy — but I did get into it the more it went on and liked lots of it.
Thursday, 31 October 2024
Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Films
Eyeball (1975)
Possession (1981)
[#84 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
Blindspot 2024 #10 — the second horror film I mentioned.
Possession (1981)
[#84 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
Blindspot 2024 #10 — the second horror film I mentioned.
Games
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket
I've never been that fussed about Pokémon. When I got my first GameBoy (it was a Color, if I remember correctly) back in the '90s, I did have one of whichever iteration of the game was then-current, but I didn't play it a huge amount in the end. I mean, the fact I can't even remember which game it was tells you something. But now my nephew is the right age to be really into it, so when I saw this app was coming out today, I thought I'd give it a go.
It's based around opening packs to collect cards (all digitally), which after a couple of levels you can use to build decks and battle (a slightly simplified version of the real card game's rules, I believe). I ended up spending all morning on it, and then some time in the afternoon too. Oh dear... I mean, that's probably a good sign to the developers and the Pokémon company, but not so much for my free time.
I've never been that fussed about Pokémon. When I got my first GameBoy (it was a Color, if I remember correctly) back in the '90s, I did have one of whichever iteration of the game was then-current, but I didn't play it a huge amount in the end. I mean, the fact I can't even remember which game it was tells you something. But now my nephew is the right age to be really into it, so when I saw this app was coming out today, I thought I'd give it a go.
It's based around opening packs to collect cards (all digitally), which after a couple of levels you can use to build decks and battle (a slightly simplified version of the real card game's rules, I believe). I ended up spending all morning on it, and then some time in the afternoon too. Oh dear... I mean, that's probably a good sign to the developers and the Pokémon company, but not so much for my free time.
Tuesday, 29 October 2024
Monday, 28 October 2024
Games
Syberia
Hadn't forgotten nor given up on this, just been busy with other stuff. Played about another hour-and-a-quarter until I ran out of immediately-obvious things to do. There's a fair bit of back-and-forthing and 'puzzles' that amount to "figure out the right order to pull random levers", with little conversation and no monologuing from our 'hero', which makes the character feel rather distant and bland. In other words, it's no LucasArts game.
Hadn't forgotten nor given up on this, just been busy with other stuff. Played about another hour-and-a-quarter until I ran out of immediately-obvious things to do. There's a fair bit of back-and-forthing and 'puzzles' that amount to "figure out the right order to pull random levers", with little conversation and no monologuing from our 'hero', which makes the character feel rather distant and bland. In other words, it's no LucasArts game.
Sunday, 27 October 2024
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x72 Week 15: Tuesday
7x73 Week 15: Wednesday
7x74 Week 15: Thursday
7x75 Week 15: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Slow Horses
4x05 Grave Danger
4x06 Hello Goodbye [season finale]
7x72 Week 15: Tuesday
7x73 Week 15: Wednesday
7x74 Week 15: Thursday
7x75 Week 15: Friday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Slow Horses
4x05 Grave Danger
4x06 Hello Goodbye [season finale]
Saturday, 26 October 2024
TV
Friends
4x09 The One Where They're Going to Party! [5th or so watch]
4x10 The One with the Girl from Poughkeepsie [5th or so watch]
The Rookie
5x21 Going Under
The Rookie: Feds
1x21 Bloodline
The final Rookie / Rookie: Feds crossover — which was barely that, more two scenes in Going Under that led into Bloodline, and gave them an excuse to feature Nolan in the latter. Anyway, the show got cancelled, so this is the last episode of Feds I'll ever have to watch.
Slow Horses
4x03 Penny for Your Thoughts
4x04 Returns
4x09 The One Where They're Going to Party! [5th or so watch]
4x10 The One with the Girl from Poughkeepsie [5th or so watch]
The Rookie
5x21 Going Under
The Rookie: Feds
1x21 Bloodline
The final Rookie / Rookie: Feds crossover — which was barely that, more two scenes in Going Under that led into Bloodline, and gave them an excuse to feature Nolan in the latter. Anyway, the show got cancelled, so this is the last episode of Feds I'll ever have to watch.
Slow Horses
4x03 Penny for Your Thoughts
4x04 Returns
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
I alluded last week to a deluge of stuff turning up this week. Well, it didn't. Fair enough — it was all preorders due out on Monday, anyway. So, next week should have a pile of stuff (just in time for the monthly running time update, which means I've got one week to work out how long the Lars von Trier box set runs — unusually, it doesn't say on the packaging).
This week does have one new title: Doctor Who Season 25. We've reached something of a tipping point in the Doctor Who Blu-ray range at last: as well as upgrading DVDs of stories from season 25 itself, this allows me to also officially pass on stories from seasons 12 and 24. How? Those seasons are already out on Blu-ray, but the DVD editions are in box sets with stories from season 25, so I'd been hanging on to them. There should be more of this kind of thing going forward; as well as, hopefully, special features that have gone walkabout turning up again, meaning even more DVDs can officially be 'removed'.
Number of titles in collection: 3,387 [down 2]
Of which DVDs: 995 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,392 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 397 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,177 [up 3]
Number of films: 4,217 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 404 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,797 [down 3]
Number of short films: 1,171 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
I alluded last week to a deluge of stuff turning up this week. Well, it didn't. Fair enough — it was all preorders due out on Monday, anyway. So, next week should have a pile of stuff (just in time for the monthly running time update, which means I've got one week to work out how long the Lars von Trier box set runs — unusually, it doesn't say on the packaging).
This week does have one new title: Doctor Who Season 25. We've reached something of a tipping point in the Doctor Who Blu-ray range at last: as well as upgrading DVDs of stories from season 25 itself, this allows me to also officially pass on stories from seasons 12 and 24. How? Those seasons are already out on Blu-ray, but the DVD editions are in box sets with stories from season 25, so I'd been hanging on to them. There should be more of this kind of thing going forward; as well as, hopefully, special features that have gone walkabout turning up again, meaning even more DVDs can officially be 'removed'.
Number of titles in collection: 3,387 [down 2]
Of which DVDs: 995 [down 3]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,392 [up 1]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 397 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,177 [up 3]
Number of films: 4,217 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 404 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 9,797 [down 3]
Number of short films: 1,171 [no change]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 25 October 2024
TV
Richard Osman's House of Games
7x71 Week 15: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Slow Horses
4x01 Identity Theft
4x02 A Stranger Comes to Town
7x71 Week 15: Monday
[Watch various episodes (again) on iPlayer.]
Slow Horses
4x01 Identity Theft
4x02 A Stranger Comes to Town
Thursday, 24 October 2024
Wednesday, 23 October 2024
TV
Goblin Slayer
1x11 A Gathering of Adventurers
1x12 The Fate of an Adventurer [season finale]
Great two-part finale. Glad I stumbled across this show.
1x11 A Gathering of Adventurers
1x12 The Fate of an Adventurer [season finale]
Great two-part finale. Glad I stumbled across this show.
Tuesday, 22 October 2024
TV
Goblin Slayer
1x10 Dozing
1x10a Adventure Sheet aka Recap: Adventurer's Record
The second episode here is a summary of the main story so far, retold in mostly chronological order (i.e. some flashbacks from later episodes are moved to the start), which aired between episodes 10 and 11 during the series' original run. It's not been dubbed into English (even though it's 100% clips from previous episodes, so presumably they could've just edited the existing soundtracks) and I don't think it's included on any DVD/Blu-ray releases. Which is fair enough, really — I thought it might have a new framing device to link the clips or something, but no. It's entirely skippable.
1x10 Dozing
1x10a Adventure Sheet aka Recap: Adventurer's Record
The second episode here is a summary of the main story so far, retold in mostly chronological order (i.e. some flashbacks from later episodes are moved to the start), which aired between episodes 10 and 11 during the series' original run. It's not been dubbed into English (even though it's 100% clips from previous episodes, so presumably they could've just edited the existing soundtracks) and I don't think it's included on any DVD/Blu-ray releases. Which is fair enough, really — I thought it might have a new framing device to link the clips or something, but no. It's entirely skippable.
Monday, 21 October 2024
Films
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
[#82 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
Blindspot 2024 #9 — the first of two horror films on this year's Blindspot list that I've been saving for October.
[#82 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
Blindspot 2024 #9 — the first of two horror films on this year's Blindspot list that I've been saving for October.
Games
007: Everything or Nothing
Oh yeah, another new game. I'll spare you the details, but a perfect confluence of various different thoughts, impulses, and things I happened to see inspired me to get ahold of an emulation of this console game for my Mac (I actually own the GameCube version, so I can't say I feel too bad about 'pirating' this; also, it's 20 years old and not available in any form for a current-gen console nor on PC, so...)
Had a quick go at it, but the emulator doesn't seem to support using a mouse (beyond clicking) so it was a pain to control. I have old GameCube / GameCube-for-Wii controllers somewhere, but I'm sure there's no way to connect them up to a Mac (heck, if I was going to dig those out, I could just set up the console; though I think I'd need an adaptor to connect it to my TV nowadays).
I'd love to just dig into the game, but while the intro and tutorial were easy enough that I could take my time finding every single button I needed to press and slowly move my view around with random keys, etc, I doubt that would be sufficient for the game proper. Hopefully if I buy a controller it will be compatible with the emulator...
Oh yeah, another new game. I'll spare you the details, but a perfect confluence of various different thoughts, impulses, and things I happened to see inspired me to get ahold of an emulation of this console game for my Mac (I actually own the GameCube version, so I can't say I feel too bad about 'pirating' this; also, it's 20 years old and not available in any form for a current-gen console nor on PC, so...)
Had a quick go at it, but the emulator doesn't seem to support using a mouse (beyond clicking) so it was a pain to control. I have old GameCube / GameCube-for-Wii controllers somewhere, but I'm sure there's no way to connect them up to a Mac (heck, if I was going to dig those out, I could just set up the console; though I think I'd need an adaptor to connect it to my TV nowadays).
I'd love to just dig into the game, but while the intro and tutorial were easy enough that I could take my time finding every single button I needed to press and slowly move my view around with random keys, etc, I doubt that would be sufficient for the game proper. Hopefully if I buy a controller it will be compatible with the emulator...
Saturday, 19 October 2024
Games
Fortnite
Oh yeah, I am so Hip and With It and Down With The Kids that I just played Fortnite for the first time.
In truth, it's only because I discovered Amazon's Luna platform/service, which I have access to as a Prime member, and wanted to try it out. I don't think I'm about to become a regular Fortnite player, but it does open up other possibilities for gaming... though still only a relatively limited selection of titles work with it (so similar to film & TV streaming services, eh? Great idea; limited library), so I don't know how much there is I actually want to play.
Though, in investigating what I could play, it kinda reminded me that my Mac, while not brand-new or cutting edge, is hardly un-powerful; and while a lot of acclaimed PC games aren't released in Mac editions, there are ways to play them nonetheless. Point being: maybe I'm about to get back into computer gaming. Or not, who knows — it's not as if I don't already have more than enough hobbies.
Oh yeah, I am so Hip and With It and Down With The Kids that I just played Fortnite for the first time.
In truth, it's only because I discovered Amazon's Luna platform/service, which I have access to as a Prime member, and wanted to try it out. I don't think I'm about to become a regular Fortnite player, but it does open up other possibilities for gaming... though still only a relatively limited selection of titles work with it (so similar to film & TV streaming services, eh? Great idea; limited library), so I don't know how much there is I actually want to play.
Though, in investigating what I could play, it kinda reminded me that my Mac, while not brand-new or cutting edge, is hardly un-powerful; and while a lot of acclaimed PC games aren't released in Mac editions, there are ways to play them nonetheless. Point being: maybe I'm about to get back into computer gaming. Or not, who knows — it's not as if I don't already have more than enough hobbies.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
So, last week — when my collection swelled by 22 films across just four releases — I mentioned there was another big multi-film set due to arrive this week. That is Curzon's Lars von Trier collection, which boasts 15 features (plus several shorts) in a single box. I actually already own a fair few of those on a mix of DVD and Blu-ray, but all of my DVD editions includes special features that aren't in this box set (even though it boasts 18 hours of extras!), so I'm keeping them; but it does replace a couple of Blu-rays.
Also this week: an additional pair of multi-film sets (one a trio, one a duo), plus a regular ol' single film release (though even that contains an alternate cut), for a total of 21 features across four releases. Coincidencetastic! Would've been an even greater coincidence if it was 22 again, but it's still remarkably close. Nonetheless, with the replaced titles factored in too, my stats change thusly...
Number of titles in collection: 3,389 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 998 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,391 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 397 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,174 [up 20]
Number of films: 4,217 [up 18]
Number of additional cuts: 404 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,800 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,171 [up 1]
See you next week, faithful reader, when I thought things would be lower key, but there's a deluge of stuff I want coming out on the 28th, all of which might turn up in time for the 26th. Well, we'll see.
So, last week — when my collection swelled by 22 films across just four releases — I mentioned there was another big multi-film set due to arrive this week. That is Curzon's Lars von Trier collection, which boasts 15 features (plus several shorts) in a single box. I actually already own a fair few of those on a mix of DVD and Blu-ray, but all of my DVD editions includes special features that aren't in this box set (even though it boasts 18 hours of extras!), so I'm keeping them; but it does replace a couple of Blu-rays.
Also this week: an additional pair of multi-film sets (one a trio, one a duo), plus a regular ol' single film release (though even that contains an alternate cut), for a total of 21 features across four releases. Coincidencetastic! Would've been an even greater coincidence if it was 22 again, but it's still remarkably close. Nonetheless, with the replaced titles factored in too, my stats change thusly...
Number of titles in collection: 3,389 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 998 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,391 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 397 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,174 [up 20]
Number of films: 4,217 [up 18]
Number of additional cuts: 404 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,800 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,171 [up 1]
See you next week, faithful reader, when I thought things would be lower key, but there's a deluge of stuff I want coming out on the 28th, all of which might turn up in time for the 26th. Well, we'll see.
Friday, 18 October 2024
TV
Goblin Slayer
1x06 Goblin Slayer in the Water Town
1x07 Onward Unto Death
1x08 Whispers and Prayers and Chants
1x09 There and Back Again
I fully intended to watch a film this evening (because it's already looking like a struggle to hit my 100 Films goals for this month), but I decided I'd pop on an episode of Goblin Slayer first. I didn't count on it being a four-episode arc. If I'd known that, I might've stopped after two, but instead thought, "well, one more won't hurt if it's actually a three-parter". Oh well. I mean, I enjoyed it — these are some of the best episodes of the series so far — but this is how you end up feeling when you have film-viewing goals and choose to spend time doing something else.
1x06 Goblin Slayer in the Water Town
1x07 Onward Unto Death
1x08 Whispers and Prayers and Chants
1x09 There and Back Again
I fully intended to watch a film this evening (because it's already looking like a struggle to hit my 100 Films goals for this month), but I decided I'd pop on an episode of Goblin Slayer first. I didn't count on it being a four-episode arc. If I'd known that, I might've stopped after two, but instead thought, "well, one more won't hurt if it's actually a three-parter". Oh well. I mean, I enjoyed it — these are some of the best episodes of the series so far — but this is how you end up feeling when you have film-viewing goals and choose to spend time doing something else.
Games
Syberia
This point-and-click adventure game was released all the way back in 2002, but I don't remember hearing about it at the time, only coming across it when I got back into gaming a couple of years ago. It seems to have its fans, and a series of sequels thanks to that, so it seemed worth a go (helps that these older games are often dirt cheap nowadays).
I started by installing the Mac version (via ScummVM) because, well, I'm on a Mac. I played for about 45 minutes, and felt like I could easily see why I hadn't heard about it back in the day. Gameplay was shockingly linear, with everything signposted to the nth degree — icons on screen indicated every possible action or interaction, with little to no additional stuff clickable beyond the basics required. There were screens you have to move through that serve no purpose other than elongating your journey and thus your play time; the small handful of puzzles barely qualified for the name... It's also terribly dated — not just the graphics (which I can absolutely excuse, because you can't expect cutting-edge visuals from something made over 20 years ago), but things like the voice acting and pacing. And some of it's just bad, like the dialogue writing.
Then, for various reasons, I installed the PC version (via Porting Kit) and, while it's not a night-and-day difference, it's clearly superior. The graphics are less murky, which makes the whole thing look more appealing; and there are no unsightly icons highlighting everything — like a proper point-and-click, you have to search around for what to click on. Okay, options are still limited (you can't look at everything and hear the character's thoughts on it like you can in, say, Lucasarts games; which is a shame, because it's that kind of stuff that really helps you connect to the character, rather than them being a blank avatar going through the motions), but it feels less like you're on a limited railroad.
That said, some of the problems are universal enough that they remain whichever version you play. In fairness, some of the 'problems' might just be because I'm right at the start of the game and it's easing the player in... but, still, none of it bodes well. A lot of it is the kind of stuff reviewers would've been dismissive of back in the day (although Syberia received largely positive reviews, with some dissenters); and there were other games of a similar-ish vintage that certain circles were dismissive towards for similar aesthetic qualities (Myst comes to mind) that were beloved by others and have endured to become classics, at least with some audiences. Syberia might be a similar deal.
Honestly, if it were a demo, I would've abandoned it; but I've paid for it (even if it was only a couple of quid), and the PC version is that bit better that I don't feel so disinclined towards it. I'll stick with it for at least a bit longer, then, but I'm hoping the overall quality picks up, and soon.
This point-and-click adventure game was released all the way back in 2002, but I don't remember hearing about it at the time, only coming across it when I got back into gaming a couple of years ago. It seems to have its fans, and a series of sequels thanks to that, so it seemed worth a go (helps that these older games are often dirt cheap nowadays).
I started by installing the Mac version (via ScummVM) because, well, I'm on a Mac. I played for about 45 minutes, and felt like I could easily see why I hadn't heard about it back in the day. Gameplay was shockingly linear, with everything signposted to the nth degree — icons on screen indicated every possible action or interaction, with little to no additional stuff clickable beyond the basics required. There were screens you have to move through that serve no purpose other than elongating your journey and thus your play time; the small handful of puzzles barely qualified for the name... It's also terribly dated — not just the graphics (which I can absolutely excuse, because you can't expect cutting-edge visuals from something made over 20 years ago), but things like the voice acting and pacing. And some of it's just bad, like the dialogue writing.
Then, for various reasons, I installed the PC version (via Porting Kit) and, while it's not a night-and-day difference, it's clearly superior. The graphics are less murky, which makes the whole thing look more appealing; and there are no unsightly icons highlighting everything — like a proper point-and-click, you have to search around for what to click on. Okay, options are still limited (you can't look at everything and hear the character's thoughts on it like you can in, say, Lucasarts games; which is a shame, because it's that kind of stuff that really helps you connect to the character, rather than them being a blank avatar going through the motions), but it feels less like you're on a limited railroad.
That said, some of the problems are universal enough that they remain whichever version you play. In fairness, some of the 'problems' might just be because I'm right at the start of the game and it's easing the player in... but, still, none of it bodes well. A lot of it is the kind of stuff reviewers would've been dismissive of back in the day (although Syberia received largely positive reviews, with some dissenters); and there were other games of a similar-ish vintage that certain circles were dismissive towards for similar aesthetic qualities (Myst comes to mind) that were beloved by others and have endured to become classics, at least with some audiences. Syberia might be a similar deal.
Honestly, if it were a demo, I would've abandoned it; but I've paid for it (even if it was only a couple of quid), and the PC version is that bit better that I don't feel so disinclined towards it. I'll stick with it for at least a bit longer, then, but I'm hoping the overall quality picks up, and soon.
Wednesday, 16 October 2024
Videos
Critical Role
2x64 A Dangerous Chase [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#113 'A Dangerous Chase'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
2x64 A Dangerous Chase [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#113 'A Dangerous Chase'
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
Tuesday, 15 October 2024
Monday, 14 October 2024
Videos
Stephen Colbert's D&D Adventure with Matthew Mercer
For Red Nose Day 2019, Matt Mercer ran this quick solo adventure for popular US chat show host Stephen Colbert.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#112 'Intervention'
Normally I'd've watched this sooner after the episode, but Internet Archive's recent issues prevented me from getting at it. I was going to watch some other CR stuff in the interim (like the above, which I watched anyway (obviously)), and, if I had to, eventually just move on with Campaign 2 and come back to Talks out of order... but then they got things online enough earlier this morning and I was able to access it. Hurrah!
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
For Red Nose Day 2019, Matt Mercer ran this quick solo adventure for popular US chat show host Stephen Colbert.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Talks Machina
#112 'Intervention'
Normally I'd've watched this sooner after the episode, but Internet Archive's recent issues prevented me from getting at it. I was going to watch some other CR stuff in the interim (like the above, which I watched anyway (obviously)), and, if I had to, eventually just move on with Campaign 2 and come back to Talks out of order... but then they got things online enough earlier this morning and I was able to access it. Hurrah!
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
Sunday, 13 October 2024
TV
Goblin Slayer
1x01 The Fate of Particular Adventurers
1x02 Goblin Slayer
I've got multiple TV series on the go that I should be getting on with. If I wanted to add an anime one to that, I have dozens on disc to choose from (technically, I even have one of those on the go too, I just haven't watched any of it in over six years). But, y'know, sometimes you hear about something and, randomly, get immediately interested and just wanna watch it. Or I do, anyway. Thus it was with Gobin Slayer, which I only really heard about this afternoon; and rather than just outright buy the Blu-rays (the kind of thing I do all too often), I thought I'd watch the first couple of episodes free on Crunchyroll to try it out. I quite liked it. Now I've got to decide: do I give in to my usual Blu-ray buying, or do I just sub to Crunchyroll for a bit and continue it there?
1x01 The Fate of Particular Adventurers
1x02 Goblin Slayer
I've got multiple TV series on the go that I should be getting on with. If I wanted to add an anime one to that, I have dozens on disc to choose from (technically, I even have one of those on the go too, I just haven't watched any of it in over six years). But, y'know, sometimes you hear about something and, randomly, get immediately interested and just wanna watch it. Or I do, anyway. Thus it was with Gobin Slayer, which I only really heard about this afternoon; and rather than just outright buy the Blu-rays (the kind of thing I do all too often), I thought I'd watch the first couple of episodes free on Crunchyroll to try it out. I quite liked it. Now I've got to decide: do I give in to my usual Blu-ray buying, or do I just sub to Crunchyroll for a bit and continue it there?
Films
The Wages of Fear (1953)
[#81 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #9
[#81 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2024]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2024 #9
Comics
The Uncanny X-Men #2 by Gail Simone & David Marquez
Back on my "reading X-Men comics on Sunday" accidental habit. Need to break that.
When I read issue one, I observed this felt like it was aimed at fans of the animated series, what with it starring Wolverine, Gambit, and Rogue and having plot connections to the (repurposed) X-Mansion and the current whereabouts of Professor Xavier. This issue, Jubilee turns up. I feel my point is further proved. (Sure, there are other animated series staples missing — Storm has a solo series now; Cyclops and Beast are in X-Men, where they're running a very traditional X-Men setup (team of mutants jetting around the world fighting bad guys) — but this book undoubtedly has the greatest concentration of them, and particular fan-favourite ones at that.)
Back on my "reading X-Men comics on Sunday" accidental habit. Need to break that.
When I read issue one, I observed this felt like it was aimed at fans of the animated series, what with it starring Wolverine, Gambit, and Rogue and having plot connections to the (repurposed) X-Mansion and the current whereabouts of Professor Xavier. This issue, Jubilee turns up. I feel my point is further proved. (Sure, there are other animated series staples missing — Storm has a solo series now; Cyclops and Beast are in X-Men, where they're running a very traditional X-Men setup (team of mutants jetting around the world fighting bad guys) — but this book undoubtedly has the greatest concentration of them, and particular fan-favourite ones at that.)
Fiction
Doctor Who: The Sontaran Games by Jacqueline Rayner
Chapters 7–16 [the end]
Well, I can't say the twist truly surprised me, but it is a pretty dark novel, especially by the standards of this era of Who (when it was being more kid-friendly again). It's partly thanks to how much the Sontarans were treated as humorous by the show — the very fact they're in it leads you to expect a light-ish romp, but instead they're vicious, murderous, and genuinely threatening. As one of the series' most-recurring villains, it's only appropriate, really.
Chapters 7–16 [the end]
Well, I can't say the twist truly surprised me, but it is a pretty dark novel, especially by the standards of this era of Who (when it was being more kid-friendly again). It's partly thanks to how much the Sontarans were treated as humorous by the show — the very fact they're in it leads you to expect a light-ish romp, but instead they're vicious, murderous, and genuinely threatening. As one of the series' most-recurring villains, it's only appropriate, really.
this week on 100Films.co.uk
1 new review was published to 100Films.co.uk this week...
Incendies (2010)
More next Sunday.
Incendies (2010)
Incendies is, on the surface, one of those films that can sound off-puttingly heavy: it’s about generational trauma caused by a long-running war in the Middle East. Sure, that kind of thing can be Worthy and Great filmmaking, but egads, hard going. But while Incendies is all those things, it’s also a compelling mystery, which leads to twists worthy of a great thriller.Read more here.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 12 October 2024
Fiction
Doctor Who: The Sontaran Games by Jacqueline Rayner
Chapters 1–6
I haven't abandoned NPCs, but a tweet about this came up on my feed last night, talking about the shocking darkness of its ending. So, as it's a Quick Read (a series that, in my experience, lives up to its name), I thought I'd just dive through it and see what they were alluding to.
Chapters 1–6
I haven't abandoned NPCs, but a tweet about this came up on my feed last night, talking about the shocking darkness of its ending. So, as it's a Quick Read (a series that, in my experience, lives up to its name), I thought I'd just dive through it and see what they were alluding to.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
After nothing at all last week, my collecting returns with a bang thanks to several multi-film sets. In fact, only one of this week's four new additions is a single-film release. And there would've been even more, but a big Amazon Prime Day purchase is only due to arrive tomorrow. That'll be an interesting one for next week...
Number of titles in collection: 3,387 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 998 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,389 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 396 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,154 [up 14]
Number of films: 4,199 [up 22]
Number of additional cuts: 403 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,800 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,170 [up 3]
See you next week, faithful reader.
After nothing at all last week, my collecting returns with a bang thanks to several multi-film sets. In fact, only one of this week's four new additions is a single-film release. And there would've been even more, but a big Amazon Prime Day purchase is only due to arrive tomorrow. That'll be an interesting one for next week...
Number of titles in collection: 3,387 [up 4]
Of which DVDs: 998 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,389 [up 4]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 396 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,154 [up 14]
Number of films: 4,199 [up 22]
Number of additional cuts: 403 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,800 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,170 [up 3]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 11 October 2024
Thursday, 10 October 2024
Videos
Critical Role
2x63 Intervention [2nd half]
"A small translucent cat appears hovering just above the horse... for a split second, then there is a giant orange claw floating just above them."
"Alrighty."
"I love the 'alrighty'. 'Yep, course there is.'"
...
"She's running as hard as she can because her horse just got killed by a giant floating ethereal arcane cat claw. That'll make you run. And maybe piss yourself a little."
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x63 Intervention [2nd half]
"A small translucent cat appears hovering just above the horse... for a split second, then there is a giant orange claw floating just above them."
"Alrighty."
"I love the 'alrighty'. 'Yep, course there is.'"
...
"She's running as hard as she can because her horse just got killed by a giant floating ethereal arcane cat claw. That'll make you run. And maybe piss yourself a little."
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Wednesday, 9 October 2024
Tuesday, 8 October 2024
Monday, 7 October 2024
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